Dirty Harry's Signature Gunshot?

[riddimslinger]

Caught the original Dirty Harry last night and marveled again at the
'signature gunshot' sound of his .44 magnum. It has never changed,
apparently, and no other gun in the Dirty Harry series, or in any other
movie, has caught (or used) that specific sound. Does anyone have the
history on this sound? Is it in a sample collection? How was it made (an
actual .44?)

Curious, Larry

--
L. H. Scheidle
Scheidle Associates, Inc. and
Armoured Horse Pdns, Ltd.
A Digital Project Studio
North East, Maryland
saiahpATcrosslink.net

[Eric Toline]

Dirty Harry's Signature Gunshot?

Group: rec.arts.movies.production.sound Date: Sun, Nov 23, 2003, 8:13pm
From: sai...@crosslink.net (riddimslinger)

Caught the original Dirty Harry last night and marveled again at the
'signature gunshot' sound of his .44 magnum. It has never changed,
apparently, and no other gun in the Dirty Harry series, or in any other
movie, has caught (or used) that specific sound. Does anyone have the
history on this sound? Is it in a sample collection?

How was it made (an actual .44?)
Curious, Larry<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

While I wouldn't be surprised that it's been enhanced, it's actually
very close to what a 44 magnum sounds like. More of a concussive sound
than the higher pitched sounds of smaller calibers like 38 or 9mm.

Eric

[Marc Wielage]

On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 17:13:14 -0800, riddimslinger wrote
(in message <3fc15b51$0$13...@dingus.crosslink.net>):

> oes anyone have the
> history on this sound? Is it in a sample collection? How was it made (an
> actual .44?)

>--------------------------------snip----------------------------------<

IMDB has these credits on DIRTY HARRY:

 William Randall ... sound
  Sergio Reyes ... additional sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)
  Dan Wallin ... score mixer & sound re-recording mixer (uncredited

As to whether this specific sound in a sample collection, I'd check out Sonic
Boon's DYNAMIC RANGE (available from either Sound Ideas or Hollywood Edge).
Lot of one-of-a-kind gun sounds there, including several of a .44 Magnum, but
be warned this library isn't cheap ($400 for 2 CDs).

I worked on the home video version of MAGNUM FORCE years ago, and I'd suspect
the SFX crew did a lot of sweetening of the characteristic "Dirty Harry" gun
sound, probably with several layers of sounds at once. Sounds like these are
rarely as simple as they seem.

--MFW

[Jay Rose CAS]

Try a compressor with a low threshold, relatively slow attack (to keep the
crunch), and very fast release (to fatten the sound). That recipe is great
for beefing up gunshots.

--
Correct address is spell out the letter j, AT dplaydahtcom
Clio- and Emmy-winning sound design
Learn audio for video at www.dplay.com

[riddimslinger]

Yikes on the price re CD's; I suppose I'm not really in the market to buy
that one exactly, but much thanks on the info. Your work fascinates me, and
the creativity that goes into capturing sound, foley, etc and 'sweetening'
is amazing (I read that the bullet hits on the T1000 in T2 were made with a
cup smacked into a bucket of yogurt!). So that gunshot has been on my list
to track down... Again thanks.

Larry
--
L. H. Scheidle
Scheidle Associates, Inc

Armoured Horse Studios
saiahpATcrosslink.net

"Marc Wielage" <m...@musictrax.com> wrote in message
news:0001HW.BBE83ADE...@news-server.socal.rr.com...

[riddimslinger]

Thanks, too, Jay. I have a .357 with FBI loads to try (yes, I am trained re.
firearms safety, am not on a set; no one but squirrels to bother out here in
nine acres). I think I read on the other thread that I should save the
condensers and use dynamics.

Larry
--
L. H. Scheidle

Scheidle Associates, Inc
Armoured Horse Studios
saiahpATcrosslink.net

"Jay Rose CAS" <SEE-S...@rcn.com> wrote in message
news:SEE-SIGFILE-25...@192.168.1.101...

[Marc Wielage]

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 22:30:09 -0800, riddimslinger wrote
(in message <3fc44a2c$0$14...@dingus.crosslink.net>):

> Yikes on the price re CD's; I suppose I'm not really in the market to buy
> that one exactly, but much thanks on the info.

>--------------------------------snip----------------------------------<

You can also audition and purchase individual effects, usually for just a few
dollars apiece, on these websites:

http://www.sounddogs.com/start.asp

http://www.sound-effects-library.com/

Both have fairly good deals, and you don't necessarily have to spend hundreds
of dollars for a few sounds if you don't need a large library.

--MFW

[riddimslinger]

You just don't want me to shoot myself in the foot... ;-)

Again, thanks. Larry

L. H. Scheidle
Scheidle Associates, Inc
Armoured Horse Studios
saiahpATcrosslink.net

"Marc Wielage" <m...@musictrax.com> wrote in message

news:0001HW.BBEA930C...@news-server.socal.rr.com...

[wrno...@gmail.com]

To quote Harry himself, "...you're shit out of luck!" I too am trying to find out exactly how that sound was made (I've spent many an hour at outdoor shooting ranges, with .44 Mags going off on either side of me. The real gun DEFINITELY sounds different from the movie gun. If nothing else, the reverberating boom of the movie gun lasts just a little too long...like a ''BA-WOOOM'' rather than "boom").
If anyone knows EXACTLY how Warner Brothers Studio made that sound, they're not telling. You'll get every single tidbit of info EXCEPT what you're looking for!